Co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,242, sharing inventorship of one or more inventors in common with the present invention, discloses a modular shrink-wrap machine (for use with a loading device for individually wrapping products sequentially with shrink-wrap material as product packages are delivered in sequence to the machine. U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,242 (“the '242 patent”) is incorporated by reference in the present patent application. In the '242 patent, film material is delivered from a roll at a wrapping station. Product packages are carried flat into the machine, enveloped in the film in a wrapping station and then carried into a film sealing and cutting station. Film sealing and cutting apparatus has upper and lower heads, an upper one being which is driven into and out of engagement with the lower other between adjacent wrapped the horizontally-oriented products received by the first conveyor for effecting a sealed cut between them. A side seal-forming arrangement seals side edges of the film material along one side of the products by heat sealing to provide a side seal. Microprocessor-driven touch screen and software-driven systems controls the shrink-wrap machine.
Reference is made also to co-assigned Stork U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,931 (“the '931 patent”), wherein named inventor Brian R. Stork is inventor Brian R. Stork of the present invention. That patent shows an apparatus for wrapping products in which products are provided to a delivery input conveyor, wrapped in a tube of heat-sealable material, and to a sealing station wherein horizontally-extending sealing heads are brought into and out of engagement with a tube to cut and seal the plastic, i.e., film material forming the tube. The products, delivered as wrapped packages onto an exit conveyor, proceed into a heat-shrink station for final processing and discharge. That patent describes an arrangement for positioning and movement of the sealing heads which can be adjusted, as by operator input. Movement of the head is detected by an electric eye which determines relative dimensions of the product for initiating appropriate movement of the sealing head or heads.
A machine of the present invention employs advantageous modular components for handling, sealing and cutting of the packages and the film material.
The presently inventive machine operates such that movement of packages is not interrupted during sealing and cutting of a formed tube enveloping the packages, because sealing and cutting is carried out by orbitally-reciprocating sealing heads so that these operations take place “on the fly” for attaining high speed operation with outstanding throughput.
A new machine of the presently inventive system employs modular components, which are arranged very differently from those of the referenced patents to provide extraordinary vertical product wrapping with effects and advantages and provide a range of adjustment, accommodation, positioning, and selective use, speed and throughput which is astonishing and remarkable.
For controlling these modular components and the conveying of products into and through the new apparatus, computer software programs for controlling-wrap machine operation wherein software can provide operator input to define movement of sealing heads and other characteristics appropriate to the type of sealing operation to be carried out, generally as in the '242 patent.
In the new apparatus, vacuum conveyors are employed to maintain a product or group of group of products in vacuum conveyor tractive adherence, while wrapped in a tube of sealing material, and while the product is brought to and into and through sealing position(s).
Prior art arrangements have not fully achieved the efficiency, speed and throughput or ease of adjustment and change desired by customers, nor have they been suitable for film wrapping of product packages such as cylinder-shaped containers or products which are oriented upright and are preferably to be maintained upright during wrapping and sealing. Until now, such containers have had typically to pass through packaging machines in a horizontal orientation, or have required pausing of operation while wrapping and shrinking took place. So also, prior art arrangements have restricted locations and types of edge or bottom seals for so-shaped containers or products.
In comparison, novel and effective apparatus of the invention provides uniquely effective film wrapping of upright items, namely those vertically oriented, such as tubes, rolls, bottles, cans, tall containers, detergents, paper towels, cleaning agents, composite cylinders, vertical stacks, and typical containers of caustics, bleaches, other chemicals and powders, cleaners, spray containers, lawn care and garden compositions, paint cans, solvents, and myriads of grocery supplies and foods, as well as hardware store consumer items, and, without limitation, other upright containers and objects too numerous to completely list.
In other words, the present wrapping system allows wrapping of upright objects or products, so that it is not necessary for such items to be conveyed horizontally, or placed flat or on their sides for sealing in film material. So also, it will be appreciated that some conveyors are often best used and adapted for handling only vertical containers such as cans, rolls, bottles and packages. Some items can be are normally best handled in upright configuration. Because such items can pass through the new wrapping machine in an upright orientation, not only can they be presented upright by such conveyors but also they may be presented to the machine in different package heights. It is now found that high speed and throughput can, after all, be achieved in a film wrapping and sealing machine of the invention by allowing continuous-operation sequential packaging of the upright items and/or variously-sized products to take place so that their movement is not interrupted during sealing and cutting. Pauses for each such item are not now required in operation of the inventive apparatus. The new machine employs for this purpose a special sealing module that uses orbitally-reciprocating sealing heads which move laterally at the sides of upright containers or products for high speed on-the-fly operation, while a bottom-seal special module or system creates a single bottom seal below the upright containers or products of desired location and type. These modules provide selective adjustable and precisely controlled movement of sealing-and-cutting heads as they are brought into and out of engagement with a tube of film material that wraps a product.
Wrapping of products is carried out in the inventive apparatus so as to form improved and markedly better portions or points of seal-termination or union of sealed film of the products after they are wrapped, so that objectionable dimples, film pockets, gussets, “ears” or “tucks” do not result.
Among the various advantages, benefits, notable features, goals and objectives of machines of the invention are these, summarized in part briefly as follows:
An advanced automated wrapping machine is provided to satisfy very demanding industrial packaging applications.
The new machine combines servo technology, PLC control and machine mechanics into an optimized unit having configurable vertical and bottom seal modules.
A novel film plow system of the new machine minimizes film usage and facilitates loading and operation.
The new automated wrapping machines of the invention can handle the automated continuous wrapping many different types of products, having a range of widths, heights and shapes which have capability or need for being quickly film-wrapped.
Various types of film material, including plain or preprinted, shrink type, sealable type, and with different possible axial orientations (directions) of shrinkage, if any, and different strength characteristics, can be used in the new automated film wrapping equipment.
By way of example, the film material may be of various possible thicknesses and various possible compositions, and may be light, medium or thick, tough film which can be considered difficult to cut such as those in a class of superlative very strong new heat-sealable film materials (referred to this application as the “tough film materials” or the “new tough film materials”), e.g., as sold under the brands Cryovac® and CorTuff® made by Sealed Air Corporation, that are extremely strong and tough, providing very high impact and cutting protection. Such materials are strong enough and sufficiently protective that they can function as primary shipping containers without more, and may be used as an alternative to corrugated boxes to provide packaging and shipping cost reductions. However, these new tough film materials are more difficult to cut and seal than conventional shrink-wrap film materials but can be handled by the new machine.
Equipment of the invention provides a high degree of both mechanical and electrical changeability for providing modular characteristics, by which both mechanical and electrical features can be changed by the substitution of modules or by software-implemented changes under the control of an operator.
Product packages can be provided directly to the film wrapping machine by an infeed conveyor upon which the packages are upright, that is, upstanding, and remain so as they undergo automated wrapping in the machine.
Continuous-operation sequential packaging of the upright product packages and/or variously-sized products to take place so that their movement is not interrupted during sealing and cutting.
Both vertical sealing operations and longitudinal bottom-sealing operations are carried out by modular component units which are individually accessible and easily adjusted or serviced.
Many types of modular longitudinal seal systems are available: static seal, fin seal, seal-and-trim, positive lap, and other variations.
Film is formed into a product-enveloping tube enclosure by fixed or adjustable film formers [that is, tube formers] of novel configuration.
Servo operation is provided under supervision of programmable logic controller control.
Software control is provided including operator display that can be selectively oriented or repositioned, and the software features provide product setup library to save and recall machine settings. As a further advantage, machine set-ups can be saved to user defined alphanumeric product codes for extreme convenience.
“Tool-less” set up is provided by such software control. Sealing member settings and other operations limits and operating characteristics are automatically adjusted through touch-screen for the operator.
The software-driven control system provides a user-friendly set-up program to aid a novice operator and includes touchscreen diagnostics for troubleshooting and color touchscreen control operation.
The software-driven control system also provides a user-defined alarm system with audible/visible warning.
Mating to various types of infeed conveyors is provided, such as servo-driven starwheel types.
A variable speed exit conveyor is provided for improved exit handling of wrapped products.
Film roll monitoring is provided (e.g., film low warning, film out automatic stop).
Ambidextrous design allows for left or right hand machine user operation
Product packaging conveyor and sealing speeds are adjustable over a large range, and allow operation to a high packaging rates.
Unique end-seal head design keeps blade & pad vertical through entire range of motion.
As a brief overview, the present apparatus is a selectively reconfigurable shrink-wrap machine for sequentially wrapping products which are delivered sequentially by the loading device in upright condition. Shrink-wrap material is delivered from roll storage at a wrapping station. The products may be wrapped individually or in groups. An infeed conveyor carries products to be wrapped at a tube wrapping station. As a tube of the shrink-wrap material is formed about the products by being pulled from rolled storage, marginal edges of the shrink-wrap material are joined by a selectively configurable bottom seal module, to form a bottom seal. Upright products-within the tube, which tube is now bottom sealed, are delivered to a film sealing and cutting apparatus. The film sealing and cutting apparatus has laterally opposed sealing heads. The sealing heads have upright sealing surfaces and are pivotally carried by top and bottom planetary gearheads. Above and below the jaws are top and bottom planetary gearheads that carry the jaws, that is, sealing heads, which are pivoted for movement on an axis eccentric to that of the gearheads, so that the heads always face each other with fixed angular orientation, but providing orbital movement toward and away from tube-enveloped products as well as movement along with the tube-enveloped products so that the heads travel a distance in an opposed sealing relation as the tube of products moves through the machine. This provides during sealing an appropriate sealing “dwell time” during which sealing between successive packages occurs. An outfeed conveyor delivers the products or groups of them after being so wrapped and sealed. A microprocessor-driven control system has touch sensitive viewing and controlling controls for prompting and receiving operator response for controlling operation of the shrink-wrap machine.
The inventive new apparatus provides for different types of bottom seals by the use of a sealing module that allows, just as an example, “bottom” seal placement that does not interfere with markings, brand indicia or text or designs which are to be legible on the products after they are wrapped.
For forming such a bottom seal for upright products or items or a discrete group of multiple such upright products or items, the present invention more specifically provide a modular bottom sealer system that receives and seals a single sealing edge at which a tube of the wrapped sealing material converges to be sealed, and can trim off a narrow strip of film is cut from the overlapped film material during formation of the bottom seal. The modular bottom sealer cuts and seals the terminal edges of overlapped or butted sheets of shrink-wrapping film material by thermally cutting the material and pressure-sealing the cut sheets on one side of the overlapped sheets. This new modular bottom sealer is capable of producing many types of seals, as noted previously, beneath the products. Further, it can be selectively and adjustably positioned so as to locate the resultant longitudinal seal at a desired central, off-center or laterally-placed location, and such is highly advantageous.
A brief overview of the modular bottom sealer is helpful. It produces a selectively laterally positionable bottom seal by cutting and sealing opposing surfaces of overlapped shrink film material so they are bonded together by application of heat and pressure applied on opposing right and left margins of a tube formed of the film material as the film material containing film-wrapped articles is pulled by the modular sealer through the modular sealer. The modular sealer has a chassis having right and left belt-and-pulley sections. A heated blade assembly of the upper section cuts the film material and cooperates with right and left twin V-belts assemblies of the belt-and-pulley sections, which provide clamping pressure, to achieve bottom sealing of the film material. The modular sealer has provision for being driven mechanically by the packaging machine.
Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out below.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout views of the drawings.